Her Name is Mulan
by Kaylessa
Summary: When you're used to calling someone by a name, say for example "Ping," it's not easy to change that habit. ONESHOT.


_"My name is Mulan!"_

His horse trotted along, Chi Fu's mount matching its pace. The rest of the soldiers spread out behind them, their footsteps stumping along dejectedly. No one was marching in time. Maybe he should reprimand them, remind them that they are the Imperial Chinese army and they should behave as such. But really, first he should remind himself of such. His shoulders were uncharacteristically slumped, the reins limp in his hands as his white stallion picked his way down the mountain among the rocks.

_"My name is Mulan!"_

They had left the snow of the pass behind miles ago. Coming down the mountain the air had warmed, the snow getting thinner and thinner until none was left on the ground. The chill was finally leaving his skin, but there was a chill he refused to acknowledge that went much deeper. The small troop of soldiers turned a corner on the path and quite suddenly, the Imperial City was laid out before them, sprawling like an immense, gilded woven rug of a thousand thousand threads. Chi Fu let out a loud and clear sigh of relief. From the corner of his eye, Shang saw the council member look over at him, like he was going to say something, when the man suddenly and miraculously discovered his sense of tact (or was it self-preservation?) and kept his comments to himself.

_"My name is Mulan!"_

No one else had much of a reaction to seeing their capitol city before them. They had saved it. The threat of the Huns was annihilated and now they would march into the city as heroes. They may even be congratulated by the Emperor himself! But instead they all looked dejected and miserable. Shang would swear that their shoulders slumped even more at the sight, especially those three. But still they kept marching, out of step, but at least they were moving forward.

_"My name is Mulan!"_

He listened closely to the stumping footsteps behind him, the quick, sharp trot of the horse's hooves, focusing on them like an anchor. If he listened to them, maybe they would drown out the memory pressing on his skull.

_"My name is Mulan!"_

It didn't work.

A part of him wanted to slam his head into something hard and repeatedly for his total blindness. There had been a _woman_ in the middle of his army. He had personally encountered, reprimanded, trained and congratulated the person called "Ping" and he never knew he was a _woman?!_ He remembered, suddenly very vividly, when he had grabbed him-_her_ after the scorpion and bo staff incident at the very beginning of their training. The spectacle she'd made of him-_her_self and he had never picked up a clue? Turns out Fa Zhou really didn't have a son.

_"My name is Mulan!"_

Granted, the idea was so absurd, unheard of and not to mention _illegal_, but still, a woman!

With a shock and a nigh-debilitating wave of shame, Shang remembered how Ping-MULAN had sparred with him and had landed a kick to his jaw, knocking him to the ground. At the time he had felt no small amount of pride that the soldier he'd kicked out of the army had improved so drastically. Now realizing he'd actually been beat by a girl, it took a great deal of his considerable self-control to keep his features from betraying his emotions.

His name was not Ping, her name is Mulan.

Causing the rice brawl, that was Ping. Flailing around in training, that was Ping. The one bullied by the other soldiers (it wasn't like he hadn't noticed), that was Ping. But the arrow in the pole, the weights and reaching the top, that was Mulan. Quick and nimble at hand-to-hand, that was Mulan. The cannon. The avalanche. Shan Yu. _That_ was Mulan.

Mulan was a woman, and she had single-handedly defeated the hoards of the Hun army.

Her face swam before his memory. Hair up in a topknot or loose around her face, it didn't really matter. Shouldn't he feel like the trust he'd pledged had been betrayed? Well, it seemed like a natural conclusion, but in dwelling on it a moment, Shang decided that didn't feel right. No matter the name or gender, that soldier had risked her life, defeated the army, saved China, and had even saved himself. It was in those actions that he trusted.

And really, when he couldn't even trust himself to tell a man from a woman, what is his trust worth?

Her name is Mulan.

* * *

AN: You know, it always seemed to me that when Mulan comes riding into the city and approaches Lee Shang at the parade, he looks up at her and calls her "Mulan" much too automatically. I mean, yes, she'd told him her real name, but he had also been accustomed to looking at her face and calling her "Ping" for an unknown amount of time, but it had to have been a good few months. So I figured there had to be some reason that he looks at her and instantly called her by her real name. So here you go!


End file.
